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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25921444">Candlelight and Electric</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/9_of_Clubs/pseuds/9_of_Clubs'>9_of_Clubs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Autumn Prompts for The Coming Fall [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Black Panther (2018), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Autumn, Fall prompts, Fluff and Angst, In the same verse as the other ficlet, M/M, Pumpkins, Tony is struggling with his sexuality and his father, Unresolved Sexual Tension, but he wants T'Challa, it's complicated - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:49:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>656</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25921444</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/9_of_Clubs/pseuds/9_of_Clubs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for <a href="https://twitter.com/adamantaflame/status/1291906185226903552?s=20">this</a> series of Fall Prompts to celebrate the coming Autumn! </p>
<p>--</p>
<p>But, it’s possible, given the way T’Challa’s smile is a little impish at the ends, he knows that’s exactly what Tony is thinking, but shares his thoughts anyway, patiently pressing until Tony is exactly where T’Challa wants him to be, aka. trapped in a pumpkin patch discussing the finer merits of lighting, for his own good, he’s sure, and though Tony narrows his eyes at him with a huff, really that’s fine too.</p>
<p>If you’re into being dazzled, or whatever.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tony Stark/T'Challa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Autumn Prompts for The Coming Fall [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1881184</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Candlelight and Electric</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s dark at the pumpkin patch, which is probably why T’Challa picked it, because he’s smart, </span>
  <em>
    <span>duh</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but slyer than anyone gives him credit for, what with his whole, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Well, I already bought the tickets, it would be a shame to let them go to waste, no?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>schtick. And then his follow up before Tony could so much as open his mouth to say </span>
  <em>
    <span>both</span>
  </em>
  <span> of them could afford to let those tickets go to waste, thank you very much. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’ll bring the whiskey.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Which.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So anyway, that’s how they’re here now, anonymous in this dim, god-forsaken field, the gloaming long past behind them and darkness settling in snugly across the glimmering light of pumpkins. People swirl around them in roiling masses, laughing and shrieking, the waves of sound twisting into the crispness of the air, melting into a meaningless chatter that falls around them, as good a shield as the lack of light.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They are the only display to use real candles.” T’Challa says happily, with an honest to god twinkle in his eyes, because under all that fine physique and sleek muscle, he’s really just a big nerd. He offers it sincerely, as though Tony could give a rat’s ass about the damn pumpkins at all, as though the subject matter holds the slightest bit of interest for him, and isn’t here just to watch the light dance across the lines of T’Challa’s collarbone somewhere he won’t be caught out. And if that’s better done in candlelight than electric, fine, fine by him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But, it’s possible, given the way T’Challa’s smile is a little impish at the ends, he knows that’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly </span>
  </em>
  <span>what Tony is thinking, but shares his thoughts anyway, patiently pressing until Tony is exactly where T’Challa wants him to be, aka. trapped in a pumpkin patch discussing the finer merits of lighting, for his own good, he’s sure, and though Tony narrows his eyes at him with a huff, really that’s fine too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If you’re into being dazzled, or whatever.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fire hazard.” He snarks into T’Challa’s good-natured eye-roll, their gazes locking, electric, or fiery, or whatever, for a beat of a challenge, but then T’Challa smiles, softer, and the moment passes. He can’t decide if he should snatch it back or let it go, but follows the other anyway, down the row of elaborate carvings, that despite himself, impress him a little, snatching the bottle of whiskey from T’Challa in exaggerated movements which the other pointedly ignores in favor of the pumpkins. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tony is definitely better than a pumpkin. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And even though he doesn’t enjoy it or anything, just here to humor his crazy best friend, it doesn’t hurt that the night is just a little blustery, the faintest sharpness in the breeze stinging his eyes, chafing his cheeks, bracing after a day in the school’s labs, alive. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It doesn’t hurt that faraway smoke carries on the breeze and mingles with the waft of apple-cider which he’ll pretend not to want in ten minutes and the burn of whiskey that shudders down his throat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It doesn’t hurt that T’Challa is next to him, bending to look closer at some perfect pumpkin replica of a panther with curious, delighted eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And if their hands happen to brush, well. That doesn’t hurt either.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the churn of the crowd, far from his father’s prying eyes, and the whispers of their schoolmates, in some other world they’ve stepped into all at once where they’re, neither one of them, anything but two heartbeats in the darkness, for a breath, as T’Challa’s pinky curls around his own squeezes and vanishes again, the press of it still warm against him...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everything forgets to hurt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And even though it’s all flickering firelight here, Tony considers, as the autumn wind ruffles through his hair and desperately tries to fill his lungs, as everything around them blurs into the distinct categories, T’Challa and not T’Challa, it certainly feels electric. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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